Kapitulerte vi etter ikke?

Først. Dette er IKKE et forsøk på å blåse liv i denne stadig gjentakende diskusjonen. Jeg vil bare fortelle et litt morsomt poeng.

Norge var før krigen svært gjeldstynget. Kongeriket hadde tatt opp store utenlandslån. En stor termin forfalt til betaling høsten 1940.

"Norske" myndigheter i Norge ville ikke betale. "Kongen og den norske regjering hadde ikke kapitulert. Det var derfor den norske regjering i London som måtte betale"

Rent praktisk måtte regjeringen i London løse det på denne måten:

Den norske gullbeholdningen hadde bokført verdi langt under gullverdien sommeren 1940. Gullet ble skrevet opp i verdi. En del av oppskrivingen ble overført til regjeringen som brukte dette til å betale de første terminene. Senere ble overskudd i Nortraship brukt til å betale renter og avdrag på utenlandsgjelden.

Kilde: Norges banks virksomhet i London 1940 - 1945. Utgitt av Norges Bank.

Something which I never got to the bottom of when I was researching for 'Redd Gullet' was the small amount of gold left behind at Norges Bank when the Germans invaded. Some 50 tons was evacuated, but around 1/4 of a ton was left unaccountably left behind.

When i was researching at Norges Bank I was fortunate enough to be shown the exact ledger that was used for the inventory of the gold being transported. When reading this ledger I pointed out to the bank offical the sum of 1/4 ton not being moved or accounted for with the transport - the book was hurriedly taken from me and closed! Of course I am not suggesting anything improper, but I have often wondered what had happened to the small amount that had been left behind.

I also heard of a story of a quantity of gold (via Sparebank) being lost in Oslofjord when being carried on a small boat - apparently there was a fire fight between resistors & Germans, the boat was hit several times and promptly sunk. Does anyone know if this story was true? There was a book written about the event - 'The Night Has a Thousand Eyes' by Astrup & Jacot.

Bob